Machine for securing together marginal portions of shoes



Aug. 3, 1948. H. E. REASOR 2,445,343

MACHINE FOR SECURING TOGETHER Y MARGINAL PORTIONS OF SHOES Filed Sept.21, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 3, 1948. H. E. REAsoR MACHINE FORSECURING TOGETHER MARGINAL PORTIONS OF SHOES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledSept. 21, 1946 III/1 l atented Aug. 3, 1948 MACHINE FOR SECURINGTOGETHER MARGINAL PORTIONS OF SHOES Harold Reasor, Melrose, Mass.,assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemmgton, N. J.,. acorporation ofNew Jersey Application September 21, 1946, Serial No.698,584

7 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to machines for securing together withpermanent fastenin'gs the marginal portions of a shoe upper and soleassembled without the support of a last and for simultaneously securingto said marginal portions a welt or strip to be employed in completingthe shoe. In certain respects, the invention is an improvement over thatdisclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,398,475, granted April16, 1946, on an application of Karl A. Stritter.

In the machine of the patent referred to, tom--- porarily attachedmarginal portions of a shoe upper and sole are presented to a sewingma-- chine in divergent relationship and a platform cover strip also isdirected toward the sewing point in doubled-up condition in order toprevent the free edge of the strip from interfering with the operatingdevices inthe machine and other-- wise to facilitate fastening the stripin' position on the upper. The upper and soleof the'shoe in the patentreferred to are presented tothe machine without the support of a lastand, in fact, no more than a preliminary upper shapingoperation has beenperiormed before the sewing operation. In order to attach themarginal'por'-- tions of the upper and sole temporarily before sewing,the upper at least isbeveled and its beveled face is cemented to thesole of the' shoe with the edges of the parts in: accurate register;

When the upper and sole are? thus temporarily attached, they assumeroughly the contour of a shoe with their portions remote from the reeistering edges divergingat an angle toeach other; the upper being shapedto form the anglewlth the more rigid flat sole along the portions of'th'ei sole and upper bordering the registering edgest.

In applying the strip, the partsare clamped together and the stripforced into conformity with' the curvature of the upper at the pointofsew ing operations. Forcing the strip into-conform ity with thecurvature of the upper, may ten'd to" deflect the strip out ofparallelism withthe line of the seam along the curved portins of theupper, particularly about the abruptly curving t'oe portion, producingirregular results where the shoe parts are composed of heavy relativelyin flexible stock.

An object of the present invention is totprovidei a machine which willoperate successiully in sew ing together a shoe upper and sole whileunsupe ported-by a lastancl simultaneously for s'ecuringa welt or aplatform cover stripto the :shoeziparts without deflecting the strip atthe 1 sewing point: of the machine from a uniformly flattened? con:-dltion.

other features of the invention consist 2 In the illustrated embodimentof the present invention, flexure' of the welt or strip at the sewingpoint is avoided by arranging the shoe clamp} ing devices in such a waythat the sole and upper are bent along those portions bordering theregistering edges while the surface of the upper engaged by the strip atthe sewing point is forced into a flattened condition, avoiding thenecessity of deflecting the strip itself while fastening the parts.Preferably, a guide is provided in advance of the operating point tohold one edge of the strip in proper relation to the sewing point as theoperation progresses. While the construction illustrated is ofparticular advantage when used in a sewing machine, improved resultsalso are obtainable with shoe engaging and clamping devices in machinesfor fastening a welt or'sim'ilar strip toshoe parts by fasteningsotherthanv stitches. l

in the hereinafter described and claimed the advantages ofwhich willreadily be understood from the following description-taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 isview in sideelevation" of asewing machine embodying the features or the .presentinvention;

Fig. 2' is a detail-view in -front elevation of amounting for the worksupporting horn in the machine of Fig. l';- I

Fig; 3 is a sectional plan view takenalong the line III --III of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4: is a detail: view in left sideelevation of the horn mounting ofFig. 2; I

Fig. 5 is adetail view'on an enlarged scale of the Work clamping andguiding devices of the machine taken in section through the sewing--point of the machine. with the parts constructedv toapply an ordinaryvwelt toa' shoe;

Fig. 6 15a similar view of the same parts while operating uponashoe-includingia sole edge binding strip; I l

Fig. 7 ista similar: view illustrating-the manner of attaching aninverted welt to a shoe in the machine;

Fig; 8:i's as'ectional plan view of the parts illustrated inJ-Fig. 5taken" along-the line 'VIII -VIII;

Fig. 9 is a detail planview of the'welt strip guide. on the machihe; and

Fig; 10 is a sectional view'or the guide illustrated in Fig. 9 takenalongtheline X'X of that figure;

The machine illustrated in' the. drawings-oper- I5 ates I to secure atemporarily attached upper and beveled to form a feather edge, the bevelface of which provides sufiicient area to form a secure cement jointbetween the parts. The strength of the cement bond in the joint alone isinsufficient to withstand the strains which would be set up if anattempt were made to insert a supporting last so that no attempt is madeto insert a last at this stage of the construction. Thus, without thesupport of a last, accordingto priorpraetices, the marginal portions ofthe upper, particularly, are deflected from the point of attachment inan irregular manner along the registering edges of the parts. The sole,being more resistant to deflection, retains a substantially flattenedcondition so that all of the flexure necessary to give shape to the shoeis confined to the upper. If an attempt is made to clamp the shoe partsto-- gether with a welt strip at the sewing point, under conditions ofdeflection assumed naturally during temporary attachment of theregistering edges, diificulty will be encountered in leading a welt orother strip to the sewing point, the welt being deflected from aflattened condition at the sewing point to fit the curvatures along theouter marginal face of the upper.

To avoid diiiiculty in sewing a welt or cover strip to the outermarginal face of a shoe upper temporarily attached to a sole without theSupport of a last, the illustrated machine is provided with clamping andguiding devices which bend the sole along the marginal portion andflatten out the. upper about the sewing point so that the strip as itapproaches the sewing point will not be deflected but will lie inflattened condition during the insertion of stitches. After the stitcheshave been insertedand the parts are fed beyond the sewing point, theyagain assume their natural positions in which the stresses and strainsin the parts are balanced but without affectin the movement andcondition of the strip as it approaches the sewing point. Inthis way,necessity for careful observation and accurate, control of the welt asit is bein attached to the shoe is avoided and a comparatively simpleform of guide may be employed, acting to hold one edge of the weltflatly in position as the operation progresses.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the illustrated machine isprovided with work clamping and stitch forming devices similar to thoseof the patent to Stritter above identified. These devices include a worksupport l 6, a presser foot 18, a presser in the form. of a rotary diskmounted on a yieldingly actuated hOIn 22, a curved hook needle 24, acurved awl 26, the point of operations of which is indicated at 21, Fig.8, and other stitch forming devices of similar construction and mannerof operation to those in the machine of United States LettersPatentNo.1.169.909, granted February 1, 1916, on an application of Fred Ashworth.7

The welt guide in the machine of Fig. l is arranged to direct one edgeof a strip 28 forming a welt to the sewing point in overlapping relationto the edge of the upper while the other edge of the strip projectsbeyond the edge of the upper in the manner of an inverted welt}? socalled,

according to the usual manufacture of shoes. The strip is presented tothe sewing point in substantially flattened condition as illustrated inFig. 7, the upper and sole being bent into conformity with the flattenedupper surface of the welt. The sole [4 of the shoe, bein stiffer thanthe upper, is deflected downwardly from its flattened condition bygripping teeth on the under surface of the presser foot and, to retainthe shape of the shoe with an angular divergence between the sole anduppenthe presser '26 located inside the shoe but outside a circledefined by a continuation of the curved needle cooperates with thepresser foot 13' in bending the sole downwardly through a graduallycurving arc. Beyond the sewing point, the sole again assumes itsflattened condition and carries the strip into a shape conforming withthat of the upper. In this way, tension and ex cessive strain on thebond between the temporarily attached upper and sole are avoided, theshoe parts operated upon still being in a shape generally correspondingto that of the completed shoe without producing undesirable reactions ordisplacement of one part or another.

The guide of the work support I 6 is of conventional form, asillustrated in Fig. 1, having strip edge confining flanges. Such anarrangement is useful where the strip is a relatively narrow welt. Withthe use of a strip which is to be reversed upon itself or flexed at anangle to its sewed edge, as in the usual Goodyear welt shoeconstruction, a greater width of strip may be required so that a guidehavin corresponding widthwise capacity is needed. For this purpose, aguide may be employed to advantage which is similar to that disclosed inan application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 617,349,filed September 19, 1945, in the name of George A. Miner, now Patent No.2,416,767, granted March 4, 19%7.

A strip guide having an unlimited widthwise capacity similar to thatdisclosed in the application just referred to is illustrated in Figs. 8,9 and 10 of the drawings. This guide has a single edge confiningabutment 3d and means for crowding and retaining one edge of the stripagainst the abutment including a friction wheel 32 rotating about anaxis inclined at an angle to the line'of: the seam inserted by themachine and to the line of movement of the strip. The friction wheel isyieldingly maintained in contact with the-strip by mounting it forrotation on a yoke 34 hinged at St to a, block 38 on the lower portionof the guide, the guide proper being formed integrally with a worksupport 39. The yoke is perforated to receive a threaded stud ii!carrying a coil spring :lZcompressed between the lower surface of theyoke and an adjustable thumb nut 45. Rotation of the wheel 32 tends todirect the strip in the direction of the arrow 46 in Fig.-..8 whereasthe abutment 36 causes the strip to travel in the direction of the arrow48, the wheel sliding along the surface of the strip to enable thechange in direction.

The open edge of the guide enables insertion Within it of a strip 58, asin Fig. 5, or a platform cover strip 5i, as in Fig. 6, Without changesin construction or adjustment. With the use of thewelts or strips 55 or5!, the unsecured edges thereof are deflected downwardly to some extentby the bent upper but, no clamping action is exerted on the deflectedportion of the strips so asto interfere with its proper presentation inflattened condition at the sewing point, the strips extending-in an easyflowing curvature along the surface of the work support which may beshaped corresponding-ly as'in Fig 5. In the form of' action of thehor'nagainst the upper and bindingstrip. The presser2ii and the horn 22also'are adjustedin location to prevent clamping engagement-between thepresser and the shoe parts during-normal operation of the machine. Thepresser and horn-are thus positively prevented from engaging the'shoeparts at the sewing point and are also held clear from the bite ofthepresser foot'against the work support at all times.

The location and mounting for the presser sup port'i'ng horn enables thehorn to swing about air-"axisin alinement with the sewing point and alsoto swing the presseroutwa'rdly away from the -work support'and presserfoot to a position where-a-shoe may 'readilybe-a'pplied or removed from'the horn; To theselends, the lower end of the hornis formed with avertical spindle portion 514 rotatably mounted in a block 5%} rotatalblein turn on ahorizontal pin 58 clamped at itsright end within a, bracket68 secured to the machine frame;- Rotationof the horn about the pin 58enables the presser to be swung outwardly from the sewing point of themachine to a convenient position for application or removal of a shoe.Inward movement of the presser toward the sewing point is limited by anadjustable set screW'GZ-threaded through a, lug in the block 56 andengaging at its upper end an outwardly projecting arm of the brackettit. The spindle portion 54 of the horn is held from downward movementin the block 55 by a circumferentially slotted clamp collar 64surrounding the spindle 54 of the horn, the horn being raisedsufiiciently to avoid pressure by the presser against those portions ofa shoe upper or'welt strip between the presser and the work support. Tolimit rotational movement of the horn in the block 56, the slot in theclamp collar 6 3 receives the inner end of a removable pin 66 slidinglymounted in a horizontal opening of an upstanding arm on the block 56.The pin 66 is formed with a knurled head and a grooved central portionwithin which is received a latching spring 68 when the pin is inoperative position. The latching spring 68 is secured to the block by ascrew Hi and may be flexed to disengage the groove in the pin when it isnecessary to remove the horn from the block 56.

To urge the presser 2B yieldingly toward the sewing point of themachine, the pin 66 has connected to it one end of a tension spring 12the other end of which is secured to the machine frame, the springtending to keepthe setscrew B2 on the block against the arm on thebracket 60 at all times.

For guiding the edge of a, welt or strip on the work support, a gage inthe form of a shoulder 14 is provded on the work engaging surface of thework support. This shoulder is located a proper distance to the rear ofthe point of needle operation to give the desired results and is spacedfrom the point of operation of the needle different distances on thework supports 39, 52 and I6 for diiierent types of welt or strip,illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, respectively. The gages on the worksupports 39 and 52 of Figs. 5 and 6, respectively, retain the edges ofthe strip employed therewith in substantial registry with the edges ofthe shoe sole and upper. The welt gage on the work support [6 of Fig. 7retains one 6' edge of thewelt strip in overlapping relation to the edgeof the upper while the other edge of the strip projects beyond the edgeof the upper in the manner of an inverted welt.

To guide the edges of the shoe sole and upper,

a sole edge gage i conventional form is provided. The sole gage ismounted on an adjustable arm 18, the position of which may be controlledby connections more fully described in United States Letters Patent No.2,003,526, granted June 4, 1935, in the name of Fred Ashworth.

The nature and scope of the invention hav ing been indicated and aparticular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A machine for uniting the marginal portions of a shoe upper and'solewhileunsupported by a last and for simultaneously securing a welt orstrip to' the outer face of the upper, having fastening'devices, a worksupport, a welt or strip guide on the work support arranged to engageand direct thestrip toward the operating point of the'machirie, and'apressure foot arranged to engage the outer marginal face of the sole andto clamp the marginal portion of the sole against the other parts on'thework support, in combination with a presser locatedfor action inside theshoe to bend the sole along a portion bordering the edges away from-theupper while leaving the sole free to be deflected by-the clamping actionof the presser foot.

2. A machine for uniting the marginal portions of a shoe upper and solewhile unsupported by a last and for simultaneously securing a welt orstrip to the outer face of the upper, having fastening devices; a worksupport arranged to engage and direct the strip toward'the operatingpoint of the machine, and a presser foot arranged to engage the outermarginal face of the sole and to clamp the marginal portion of the soieagainst the other parts on the work support, in combination with apresser located foraction inside the shoe to bend the sole along aportion bordering the edges away from the upper while leaving the solefree to be deflected by the clamping action of the presser foot, and aguide located in advance of the operating point to hold one edge of thestrip in close proximity to the operating point as the operationprogresses.

3. A machine for uniting the marginal portions of a shoe upper and solewhile unsupported by a last and for simultaneously securing a welt orstrip to the outer face of the upper, having fastening devices, a worksupport arranged to engage and direct the strip toward the operatingpoint of the machine, and a presser foot arranged to engage the outermarginal face of the sole and to clamp the marginal portions of all theparts against the work support, in combination with a presser actinginside the shoe to bend the sole along a portion bordering the edgesaway from the upper while leaving the sole free to be deflected by theclamping action of the presser foot, a guide acting in advance of theoperating point to hold one edge of the strip in close proximity to theoperating point as the operation progresses, and a gage on the worksupport for retaining the edge of the welt strip in substantial registrywith the edges of the sole and upper.

4. A machine for uniting the marginal portions of a shoe upper and solewhile unsupported by a last and for simultaneously securing a welt orstrip to the outer face of the upper, having fastening devices, a worksupport arranged to engage and direct the strip toward. the operatingpoint of the machine, and a presser foot arranged tov engage the outermarginal face of the sole and to clamp the marginal portions of allparts against the work support, in combination with a presser actinginside the shoe to bend the sole along a portion bordering the edgesaway from the upper while leaving the sole free to defiected by theclamping action of the presser foot, a guide acting in advance of theoperating point to hold one edge of the strip in close proximity to theoperating point as the operation progresses, and a gage on the worksupport for retaining one edge of the welt strip in overlapping relationto the edge of the upper while the other edge of the strip projectsbeyond the edge of the upper in the manner of an inverted welt.

5. A sewing machine for uniting the temporarily attached marginalportions of a shoe upper and sole while unsupported by a last and forsimultaneously securing a welt strip to the outer face of the upper,having stitch forming devices including a curved hook needle, a worksupport, a welt guide on the work support arranged to engage and directthe welt strip toward the sewing point, and a presser foot arranged toengage the outer marginal face of the sole and to clamp the marginalportion of the sole against the other parts on the work support, incombination with a presser located for action inside the shoe andoutside a circle defined by the curved needle to bend the sole alongthat portion bordering the edges away from the upper while leaving thesole free to be deflected against the presser by the clamping action ofthe presser foot.

6. A sewing machine for uniting the temporarily attached marginalportions of a shoe upper and sole while unsupported by a last and forsimultaneously securing a welt strip to the outer face of the upper,having stitch forming devices including a needle, a work support, a weltguide on the work support arranged to engage and direct the welt striptoward the sewing point,

and a presser foot arranged to engage the outer marginal face of thesole and to clamp the sole against the portions of the other parts onthe work support, in combination with a presser located for actioninside the shoe to bend the sole along that portion bordering the edgesaway from the upper while leaving the sole free to be deflected againstthe presser by the clamping action of the'presser foot, and a yieldinglyactuated horn on which the presser is mounted for urging the pressertoward the sewing point.

7. A sewing machine for uniting the temporarily attached marginalportions of a shoe upper and sole while unsupported by a last and forsimultaneously securing a welt strip to the outer face of the upper,having stitch forming devices including a needle, 2. work supportarranged to engage and direct the welt strip toward the sewing point,and a presser foot arranged to engage the outer marginal face of thesole and to clamp the marginal portions of all the parts against thework support, in combination with a.

presser acting inside the shoe to bend the sole along that portionbordering the edges away from the upper while leaving the sole free tobe deflected against the presser by the clamping action of the presserfoot, 2. yieldingly actuated horn on which the presser is mounted forurging the presser toward the sewing point, and an adjustable setscrewfor limiting the movement of the presser toward the sewing point.

HAROLD E. REASOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,359,803 Stritter Oct. 10, 19442,398,475 Stritter Apr. 16, 1946

